Below is more misleading and false propaganda from the DEA regarding California Medical Marijuana. It surprises the hell out of us here at The Mendo Mount the type of blatant lies and misinformation the federal government puts out against Medical Marijuana Growers and Users! Below is the information found on their website at :

The assertion that all medical marijuana is headed for seriously ill patients is misleading. Statistics from the California Branch of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws (NORML) shows that a survey of Californians reports the top three reported uses of medicinal marijuana: 40% Chronic Pain
22% AIDS-Related
15% Mood Disorders
(23% All other categories)

In California there is no state regulation or standard of the cultivation and/or distribution medical marijuana. California leaves the establishment of any guidelines to local jurisdictions, which can widely vary. For example, Marin County allows up to six mature plants, and/or a half-pound dried marijuana. It’s neighbor, Sonoma County permits possession of three pounds of marijuana, and allows cultivation up to 99 plants, and physicians may recommend more for “exceptional patients.”

Local and state law enforcement counterparts cannot distinguish between illegal marijuana grows and grows that qualify as medical exemptions. Many self-designated medical marijuana growers are, in fact, growing marijuana for illegal, “recreational” use.

Elected law enforcement officials, i.e. Sheriffs and District Attorneys in California have been targeted by the “marijuana lobby.” Political action by groups such as NORML have endorsed and supported candidates favorable to medical marijuana. NORML tracks local elections and takes credit for the defeats of anti-marijuana candidates. Last year the DEA arrested a major marijuana trafficker in Humboldt County who was an undeclared candidate for sheriff.

The DEA and its local and state counterparts routinely report that large-scale drug traffickers hide behind and invoke Proposition 215, even when there is no evidence of any medical claim. In fact, many large-scale marijuana cultivators and traffickers escape state prosecution because of bogus medical marijuana claims. Prosecutors are reluctant to charge these individuals because of the state of confusion that exists in California. Therefore, high-level traffickers posing as “care givers” are able to sell illegal drugs with impunity.

The California NORML website lists federal defendants for the largest indoor marijuana cultivation operation in the U.S., which occurred in Northern California, as “green prisoners.” While unscrupulously claiming to be “medical marijuana” defendants, in fact these two individuals were dangerous, armed fugitives believed to be responsible for drug-related murders and other violence.

DEA’s San Francisco Field Division coordinates the statewide Domestic Cannabis Eradication/Suppression Program (DCE/SP). The number of plants eradicated and assets seized represent the largest totals in California history.

Officers look for signs of drug impairment. Without a standard in most states for the amount of pot allowable in a driver’s system, police administer a lengthy 12-point examination.
(Joe McHugh, CHP / July 3, 2011)

By Ralph Vartabedian, Los Angeles Times

July 2, 2011, 3:46 p.m.

It was his green tongue that helped give away Jimmy Candido Flores when police arrived at the fatal accident scene near Chico.

Flores had run off the road and killed a jogger, Carrie Jean Holliman, a 56-year-old Chico elementary school teacher. California Highway Patrol officers thought he might be impaired and conducted a sobriety examination. Flores’ tongue had a green coat typical of heavy marijuana users and a later test showed he had pot, as well as other drugs, in his blood.

After pleading guilty to manslaughter, Flores, a medical marijuana user, was sentenced in February to 10 years and 8 months in prison.

Holliman’s death and others like it across the nation hint at what experts say is an unrecognized crisis: stoned drivers.

The most recent assessment by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, based on random roadside checks, found that 16.3% of all drivers nationwide at night were on various legal and illegal impairing drugs, half them high on marijuana.

In California alone, nearly 1,000 deaths and injuries each year are blamed directly on drugged drivers, according to CHP data, and law enforcement puts much of the blame on the rapid growth of medical marijuana use in the last decade. Fatalities in crashes where drugs were the primary cause and alcohol was not involved jumped 55% over the 10 years ending in 2009.

“Marijuana is a significant and important contributing factor in a growing number of fatal accidents,” said Gil Kerlikowske, director of National Drug Control Policy in the White House and former Seattle police chief. “There is no question, not only from the data but from what I have heard in my career as a law enforcement officer.”

As the medical marijuana movement has gained speed — one-third of the states now allow such sales — federal officials are pursuing scientific research into the impairing effects of the drug.

The issue is compounded by the lack of a national standard on the amount of the drug that drivers should be allowed to have in their blood. While 13 states have adopted zero-tolerance laws, 35 states including California have no formal standard, and instead rely on the judgment of police to determine impairment.

Even the most cautious approach of zero tolerance is fraught with complex medical issues about whether residual low levels of marijuana can impair a driver days after the drug is smoked. Marijuana advocates say some state and federal officials are trying to make it impossible for individuals to use marijuana and drive legally for days or weeks afterward.

Marijuana is not nearly as well understood as alcohol, which has been the subject of statistical and medical research for decades.

“A lot of effort has gone into the study of drugged driving and marijuana, because that is the most prevalent drug, but we are not nearly to the point where we are with alcohol,” said Jeffrey P. Michael, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s impaired-driving director. “We don’t know what level of marijuana impairs a driver.”

A $6-million study in Virginia Beach, Va., is attempting to remove any doubt that users of pot and other drugs are more likely to crash. Teams of federal researchers go to accident scenes and ask drivers to voluntarily provide samples of their blood. They later return to the same location, at the same time and on the same day of the week, asking two random motorists not involved in crashes for a blood sample.

The project aims to collect 7,500 blood samples to show whether drivers with specific blood levels of drugs are more likely to crash than those without the drugs, said John Lacey, a researcher at the nonprofit Pacific Institute for Research and Evaluation.

In other projects, test subjects are being given marijuana to smoke and then examined under high-powered scanners or put in advanced driving simulators to gauge how it affects their brains and their ability to drive.

Federal scientists envision a day when police could quickly swab saliva from drivers’ mouths and determine whether they have an illegal level of marijuana, but that will require years of research. Until then, police are in the same position they were with drunk driving in the 1950s, basing arrests on their professional judgment of each driver’s behavior and vital signs.

If police suspect a driver is stoned, they now administer a lengthy 12-point examination. The driver must walk a straight line and stand on one leg, estimate the passage of 30 seconds and have pupils, blood pressure and pulse checked.

Chuck Hayes, national coordinator for the International Assn. of Chiefs of Police based in Washington, D.C., says the system works well to identify impaired drivers, and any future legal limit or medical test would be just another tool rather than a revolutionary change.

“We are not concerned about levels or limits. We are concerned with impairment,” Hayes said.

Indeed, even among law enforcement experts, the need for a standard is debated. Many support tried-and-true policing methods that can ferret out stoned drivers.

“Everybody wants a magic number, because that makes it easy,” said Sarah Kerrigan, a toxicologist at Sam Houston State University in Texas and an expert witness in numerous trials. “To have a law that says above a certain level you are impaired is not scientifically supportable. I don’t think police need the tool, but my opinion may be in the minority.”

But federal officials and local prosecutors argue that the lack of a standard makes convictions harder to obtain.

In October, a San Diego jury acquitted Terry Barraclough, a 60-year-old technical writer and medical marijuana user, on manslaughter charges in a fatal crash that occurred shortly after he had smoked marijuana.

A blood test showed he had high levels of active marijuana ingredients in his blood, but the jury heard conflicting expert testimony from toxicologists about the possible effects.

Martin Doyle, the deputy district attorney who prosecuted Barraclough, said the acquittal showed that the lack of a formal legal limit on marijuana intoxication makes such prosecutions tough.

“We don’t have a limit in California and that made my prosecution very difficult,” Doyle said. “We have a lapse in the law.”

But defense attorney Michael Cindrich said the failed prosecution shows that the San Diego district attorney was targeting medical marijuana users and that any legal limit would be unfair to the people who rely on the drug to treat their problems.

Indeed, Anthony Cardoza, an attorney who represented Flores in the Chico accident, said his client was not impaired and that allegations about his green tongue were ridiculous. Flores’ guilty plea was prompted by other legal issues, including a prior conviction for a drunk driving accident that caused an injury.

Marilyn Huestis, a toxicologist and one of the nation’s top experts on marijuana at the National Institute on Drug Abuse who is directing several research programs, said she believed there is no amount of marijuana that a person can consume and drive safely immediately afterward.

Supporters of marijuana legalization agree that the drug can impair a driver, but argue that the effects wear off in a few hours. Huestis, however, said research was showing that the effects of marijuana can linger.

Marijuana’s main ingredient — delta-9 THC — stays in the blood for an hour or more and then breaks down into metabolites that are both psychoactive and inert. But the impairing effects can linger, even after the THC is no longer in the blood, Huestis said. Because it can be absorbed into body tissue and slowly released for days, Huestis believes that heavy chronic daily users may be impaired in ways that are not yet understood.

A complicating factor is the tendency of many marijuana users to also use alcohol, which can sharply amplify impairment. Very little research has been conducted to determine whether it is possible to set limits on a combination of such substances.

Paul Armentano, deputy director for the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws, said some states had laws that can punish users even when they are not high, pointing to a tough Arizona statute that allows conviction for impaired driving when an inert metabolite is detected in the blood.

Arizona officials said they wrote the law because there was no scientific agreement on how long marijuana impairs a driver. But proponents see something more sinister: an effort to put marijuana users in constant legal jeopardy.

“We are not setting a standard based on impairment, but one similar to saying that if you have one sip of alcohol you are too drunk to drive for the next week,” Armentano said.

1) Legal Protection – If you’re already using cannabis without a medical marijuana card, you are breaking both state and federal law and as such are subject to the ridiculously harsh penalties many states impose on marijuana users. Even if you’re using cannabis as a legitimate treatment of disease, you are still breaking state law if you don’t have a medical marijuana prescription from a licensed doctor.

One of the best parts about being a card-carrying MMJ patient is that you are afforded full legal protection under the states medical marijuana laws. This means when you get pulled over for a routine speeding ticket and the cops ask you to search your car, you can allow them to search with no fear of being taken to jail or having your valuable medicine being confiscated. The law is on your side now, but only if you have a medical marijuana card!

2) Marijuana is an extremely effective medicine – At this point, its hard to dispute the medicinal value of cannabis. It seems to be the only substance on Earth that can cure the painful nausea caused by chemotherapy, greatly retard the onset of blindness from glaucoma and relieve depression without destroying your bodies chemical balance – all with zero negative long-term side effects. Marijuana is a wonder drug that’s been used as an effective medicine dating back at least 6,000 years.

3) The golden ticket into medical marijuana dispensaries – Another incredibly cool thing about having your medical marijuana card is that it allows you access into medical marijuana dispensaries (aka cannabis clubs). In California alone, there are over five hundred medical marijuana dispensaries eager to serve the needs of its patients.

Going into a medical marijuana dispensary in California is almost like going to a coffeeshop in Amsterdam. Many retailers have dozens of cannabis strains to choose from, ranging from high end buds like white widow, AK-47 and northern lights to mid-range chronic, all the way down to $35 for an eighth ounce schwag. Some even offer rooms with Volcano vaporizers in them, so you can safely medicate with fellow patients.

4) You can grow you’re own – With your medical marijuana card, not only can you legally buy medical cannabis, concentrates like bubble hash and hash oil, delicious edibles, tinctures and crazy tainted sodas but you can also legally grow your own pot!

The State of California allows any valid medical marijuana patient to have up to six mature plants growing at one time. This amount is fairly generous, considering that up to 4 lbs of dried flower can be harvested from a single 6′ outdoor cannabis indica plant.

Growing your own medical cannabis is not only fun, but also a good way to save money on medicine in this current economic recession.

5) It’s good enough for Johnny Drama, so isn’t it good enough for you?

How to get a medical marijuana card in California?

The best way to obtain a medical marijuana card is to through the Medical Marijuana Evaluation Center (MMEC) in Southern California. With six+ location in So Cal, they are, by far and wide, the largest and most reputable provider of medical cannabis ID cards in California. Unlike some other shady places, all their doctors are pre-screened and hold valid permits to practice medicine in the state of California. In addition, MMEC offers the highest quality medical patient ID cards, so you don’t have to carry around your prescription on a lamented piece of paper like most other doctors give out.

Where to find medical marijuana in California?

Come to Cafe Vale Tudo if you’re in the Orange County area, we’re at 24601 Raymond Way, Lake Forest, CA 92630 or you can reach us at (949) 454-9227. The best place to find cannabis clubs and medical marijuana dispensaries is via the non-commercial Web site, WeedMaps.com. WeedMaps.com features Google Map integration (for driving directions) with reviews and a social networking community of over two thousand medical marijuana patients.

Are you a nice atheist or jewish grower of the “devil’s weed” — and have some fears about growing in a post-Rapture world?

Flames, earthquakes, hell on earth — yikes!

In an effort to help growers not partaking in this Saturday’s Rapture — we felt the need to give out some advice from the top growing expert in cannabis, Jorge Cervantes.

So, Jorge, what kind of problems are we going to have with the world on fire, including everyone for that matter?

High heat is a problem. Any infernal temperatures are smoking! Maybe that is what it is about smoking, converting cannabinoids to their psychoactive non-acid state.

Is indoor growing going to be something that everyone will have to do post-rapture?

Probably not. Oxygen is necesary for human life, and plant life for that matter. There is so much CO2 that will be generated it could be the end for humanity. Somebody has a plan, probably Donald Trump. Ask him he always knows what to do.

Since God created cannabis, does Jesus have a special place for those that grow?

Of course, he is the one that multiplies fish and teaches fishing! We think the same about cannabis! In Spain we have San Canuto, the patron saint of cannabis. Jesus is definately front row center of the cannabis oil anointment crew.

What kind of preventative steps should those believing that the Rapture is coming?

I think I would stash as many seeds as possible, collect about 50 kilos of great hash and four times as much cannabis. Then I would sit it out and stay cool, probably in a NSA basement.

And for those that plan on being Rapture-ized?

Tell them to give you everything they have. they won’t need it after Saturday.

Lyndsey Harhay, 23, of Laguna Niguel is fighting leukemia and needs a bone-marrow transplant. A fundraising festival Saturday in San Clemente aims to recruit people for the National Bone Marrow Registry.

COURTESY PHOTO

Lyndsey Harhay is battling leukemia, needs a bone-marrow transplant and hopes to be the guest of honor Saturday at a public “Save Lyndsey!” cheek-swabbing festival in the parking lot outside the Rib Trader restaurant and Ralphs at 911 S. El Camino Real, San Clemente.

Whether she can be there will depend on the ups and downs of her health, her family says, but she has had a good week so far and plans to attend.

There will be live music, face painting, a dunk tank, prize drawings and more. Food and beverages will be available, along with a chance to register as a potential marrow donor.

“We are asking the community to come and get a simple cheek swab to see if they are that special, special person who will become a hero in our family and save our beloved Lyndsey,” said Harhay’s cousin Julia Boone. “We really hope this event brings attention to the importance of being registered in the National Bone Marrow Registry and the impact you (or) anyone can have on someone and their loved ones.”

Harhay, 23, of Laguna Niguel, is the daughter of Tom Harhay, a San Clemente businessman and former fire captain in San Clemente.

The event is scheduled for 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, with free snow cones and popcorn. A $2 donation is requested for hot dogs and hamburgers, $1 for soft drinks and bottled water and $5 for beer at a designated beer garden.